SpiderWoman
by Mellowslinky
Summary: So it's technically not stalking if you're just following somebody to protect them, right? One-shot. Brittana A/U


**a/n: This was just a silly thing I did for Tumblr but I thought I might as well stick it on here as well. It's kind of rushed and un-edited and wildly out of character, so proceed with caution! :) **

* * *

She still hasn't decided whether moving into the city was the best or worst idea she's ever had. Sure, she was bored out of her mind back in the suburbs but they really weren't lying when they said that this city never sleeps.

And if _it_doesn't sleep, _she_doesn't sleep.

If she'd saved up all the money she's spent on coffee since she's been here she'd probably have enough to buy a car.

But at least she's free here, relatively speaking. She's pretty sure at least half the kids she went to high school with moved into the city like she did after graduation, but she's happy to say that she hasn't run into any of them, the way she's sure she would have if she'd stayed back home.

It feels good, being somewhere where almost nobody knows her. Moving here was a chance to reinvent herself. She's not fussy or anything; she just wants to be known as something other than _Santana Lopez: freaky orphan girl_.

She doesn't think it's too much to ask.

And to that end she's been successful. Although she'll admit, it's probably not much of an achievement when you never talk to anybody.

It's just easier that way. The less people she talks to, the less chance there is she'll let something slip.

It's probably why she's been calling home so much. She thinks she probably speaks to her Aunt May more now than when she lived with her.

It's funny. She's spent her whole life on the outskirts of this city, looking in and dreaming about what it would be like to live here one day. To be one of those busy people who ride the subway and drink coffee out of Styrofoam cups and always look like they have somewhere important to be.

She didn't realize once she finally made it inside she'd spend her entire life looking back out.

"Santana? _Santana Lopez_?"

She freezes in her tracks because she's pretty sure nobody here could possibly know her name. She's never been in this coffee shop before and her apartment is over an hour away.

It's why it was so perfect.

She takes her coffee from the barista and turns slowly, side-stepping slightly to let the next person in line get past her.

So she's run into _one_person from high school since she's been here, now.

She wants to be pissed off, _so_badly, but she just can't be - not when it's her. She's pretty sure if she could have picked one person in the entire world to randomly bump into in this shit-hole, it would have been _this_ person.

"B-Brittany?" she stutters.

Brittany smiles. It's a smile that's always made Santana's knees weak and even though she's seen it so many times before, she's doesn't think it's ever actually been directed at her until now.

She almost wants to look behind her to make sure Brittany isn't, in fact, smiling at somebody else - but that's something the old, insecure, _high school_Santana would have done so she forces herself not to.

Brittany steps toward her and she feels something flood inside her belly that she hasn't felt in months. She would say it was butterflies if that wasn't completely lame.

"I thought it was you," Brittany says once she's close enough to speak so that only the two of them can hear. And then to Santana's surprise she pulls her into a tight hug.

She can hear her own heart pounding in her ears and she wants to pull away because she's positive Brittany must be able to hear it too. She can feel the sweat forming on her forehead and how clammy her palms are getting and as Brittany draws back, still grinning, she wants nothing more than to hide her face because she knows how flushed she must look.

"It's so good to see you, Santana," Brittany says sincerely.

She notices for the first time that Brittany looks a little different, but it's not in any way that she can really pinpoint. She briefly wonders if, maybe, she looks older. But the last time she saw her was at graduation last May so she figures it probably isn't that.

"It-It is?" Santana stammers. She wants to be angry at the way Brittany has reduced her to a gibbering wreck in a matter of seconds, but Brittany is here, in front of her, as perfect and beautiful as ever, and she just can't be anything other than happy.

"Yeah, of course," Brittany giggles and then her smile fades a little and she shrugs her shoulders. "It's… good to see a friendly face, I guess," she tells her.

Santana nods because she has to agree and then they lapse into silence for what seems like an age. She can't look away. She doesn't even want to try because she knows that any moment now, Brittany will be gone and all she'll have is this moment to keep her going for _who knows_ how long…

"Are you busy?" asks Brittany, all of a sudden. "I was gonna head out, but, maybe we could… sit? Catch up and stuff?"

She thinks Brittany sounds nervous. _Brittany Pierce_is actually talking to her and _she_sounds nervous.

"Yeah, I mean, _no,_I'm not busy. I can sit," Santana replies. She knows she's grinning like a dork but she doesn't bother trying to hide it, there's no point.

They find a table by the window. She always sits by the window if she can, and never with her back to it. It's just a habit she's gotten into lately.

They sit opposite one another and Santana just _can't_ stop smiling at Brittany. She figures it's okay because Brittany is smiling right back.

The truth is, she's been in love with Brittany Pierce since she was six years old and she saw her for the first time, moving in to the empty house next door with her Mom and Dad. She remembers her Aunt and Uncle helping Brittany's parents carry in their boxes from the moving truck while the two of them played in the backyard. It was probably the most they interacted in all the years they were neighbors and she thinks that's why it's always stuck with her.

Apparently later that evening while they were eating dinner, she'd asked her Aunt and Uncle if Brittany was an angel. She doesn't actually remember it herself but her Aunt told her about it once when Santana was sixteen after she'd caught her staring at Brittany through her bedroom window.

Aunt May teased her about it a few times after that but Santana would always get so mad that she eventually stopped.

Her _leanings_are now something she just figures everybody she's close to (all two of them) know about but know better than to bring up. It's funny because if they _did _bring it up now she probably wouldn't be anywhere near as sensitive about it anymore.

She really has bigger things to worry about.

"You look good," says Brittany as she folds her hands together on the table top, "What do you do now?"

Santana wonders for a moment why Brittany doesn't have a coffee or anything but decides to answer her question before she asks. "I'm a freelance photographer. But I'm taking classes at NYU," she says.

Brittany's face lights up. "Really? That's so cool! So, you've actually sold your pictures?"

"Uh-huh," Santana nods and takes a sip of her coffee, "but only to the Daily Bugle so far."

"That's awesome," Brittany grins.

"Thanks," she looks down bashfully, "What about you?"

She glances back up to see Brittany fidgeting uncomfortably in her seat. Her eyes dart around the room quickly before they settle back on Santana's face and then she sighs in defeat and begins unbuttoning her coat. She pulls it open briefly to reveal a navy blue uniform, the same uniform the barista that served Santana was wearing, before closing it back up again.

And then Santana realizes why Brittany doesn't have her own coffee. She's not a customer; she must have just finished a shift here. She wants to offer to get Brittany a coffee now but she's not sure how to go about it. She's never asked somebody if she can buy them coffee before.

"Oh, you work here?" she asks dumbly. She tries to keep the surprise out of her voice but fails dismally. This place just doesn't seem good enough for Brittany.

"Yeah, I'm really living the dream, huh?" Brittany retorts.

"There's nothing wrong with working in a coffee shop, Britt," she tells her.

Brittany shrugs in response. "It's not exactly how I pictured things turning out when I moved out here," she sighs.

Something clicks then and Santana thinks she knows what it is that's different about Brittany now - she looks downtrodden. This city has disappointed her too.

"Do you go to auditions and stuff?" she asks, desperate to make that look on Brittany's face disappear in favor of a smile again.

"Auditions?" Brittany's brow furrows.

"Yeah, like, acting… you wanted to be on Broadway, right?"

The corners of Brittany's mouth pull upwards almost imperceptibly. "You remember that?"

Santana feels her cheeks heat up but she doesn't let it deter her - she's almost got Brittany smiling again. "Yeah, of course I do. You told me that night I saw you in your backyard after your Dad yelled at you."

Brittany grins and rolls her eyes. "Which time?"

Santana breathes out a laugh. "Your Dad did yell a lot," she concedes.

Brittany nods in response. "Not like your Uncle Ben, he was the sweetest."

"Uh-huh," Santana replies and then she tries desperately to think of a way to change the subject. She's still not ready to talk about him with anybody other than her Aunt May.

Brittany saves her from having to come up with something to say. "The answer is _no,_by the way, I haven't been to any auditions. I haven't really had time," she mumbles.

"You should," Santana tells her, before she has time to realize that it may have been a little tactless. "I mean… you were always really good in school plays and stuff," she shrugs.

Brittany breathes out a laugh. "Thanks," she replies bashfully, and then she shakes her head. "So, anyway… what's being a freelance photographer like?"

Santana takes another sip of coffee to buy herself some time before she has to answer. Like she's found with so many other things since she moved here, taking photographs for a living isn't exactly what she expected it to be. Then again, taking pictures of herself _in action_as her alter-ego and then selling them to the newspaper probably isn't the most honest thing she's ever done so she'll take what she can get. If there's one thing she's learned it's that beggars can't be choosers.

"It pays the bills," she shrugs, "what's working in a coffee shop like?"

Brittany gives her a knowing smile. "_It pays the bills_…," she retorts, "Just about. Do you live in the dorms at NYU?"

Santana's not sure if Brittany keeps asking questions to be polite or because she's genuinely interested but it makes her stupidly happy anyway. Brittany Pierce actually wants to know things about her. "No, I live with Sam. We have an apartment a few blocks away from campus. You remember Sam Evans?"

Brittany nods. "Yeah, I remember him. So, you guys are still together?"

Santana's brow furrows. "_Together_?"

"Yeah, you were dating, right?"

Santana isn't sure if she wants to laugh or puke at the thought - that would be like incest. Not _literally_, of course, but that's how it would feel, she's sure of it. "No, no… we've never dated," she responds, finding it hard to supress her grin.

"Oh, sorry, I just assumed," says Brittany as she clasps her hands together nervously on the table top again, "You always kinda came as a package."

"Well, we've been best friends since we were little, so…" Santana shrugs and Brittany nods. "He's just started dating this girl he met in class, actually."

Brittany smiles. "Yeah? That's nice. What about you?"

"What about me, what?" she asks, her brows knitting together.

Brittany rolls her eyes but keeps smiling. "Are you dating anyone?"

"_Oh_, uh…" Santana feels herself flush and, again, she really wishes she could hide her face. The truth is, she hasn't even _thought_about dating since she moved here. "No, I'm not," she tells her. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but she _swears_Brittany's smile grows a little when she says that. "Are you?"

Brittany shakes her head. "No, I haven't dated anybody since Puck," she answers.

Santana can't help the feeling of giddiness that comes over her at hearing that. She remembers being the happiest she'd ever felt as she watched Brittany dump Noah Puckerman's ass on graduation day. It was an inexplicable kind of happiness because it really had nothing to do with her, but it was just _so_satisfying. There wasn't a day that went by in high school where Puck didn't make her life miserable in some way, and not just because he got to be with the girl she loved.

Brittany giggles then, for no apparent reason, and Santana can't help the way she smiles at the sound, even when her face scrunches up in confusion. "What?" she asks.

Brittany shakes her head. "Remember that day you beat him up?" she asks, still grinning.

Santana smiles because _of course_ she remembers - it was one of the best moments of her life. It was only a couple of days after she'd discovered her new _abilities_and she hadn't quite got a handle on them yet. "I didn't _beat him up_. It was just one punch," she argues and raises her eyebrows playfully as she takes a sip of coffee.

Brittany giggles and shakes her head again. "Yeah, one punch and you broke his jaw in three places." Santana snorts because it's one of those stories that always sounds _so_much better when other people tell it, but then Brittany stops laughing and her smile fades. She looks serious all of a sudden - well, as serious as Brittany is capable of looking. "I never understood how you did that," she murmurs, her eyes studying Santana's face in a way that she's not really comfortable with.

She takes another sip of coffee and then places the cup back on the table before cocking an eyebrow at Brittany. "I was bitten by a genetically engineered spider and now I have super-powers." She shrugs.

She remembers reading somewhere once that the best way to keep a secret is to tell it but act like you're kidding. She's never tested out that theory before but judging by the way Brittany is giggling and shaking her head at her now, she guesses it must be true.

"You're such a goofball," says Brittany, and Santana looks down at her hands with a shy grin.

"Hey, Brittany?" she mumbles, still looking down. Her voice is shaky all of a sudden and she's not sure she has the nerve to ask. But she knows she _has_to, because what are the chances she'll just run into Brittany again?

"Yeah?"

"Are you… busy next Saturday? It's just, there's this festival thing I have to go to. Sam's Dad's company is throwing it, and there'll be a party afterwards and stuff. It might be fun." She shrugs and forces herself to look back up at Brittany's face.

"Wait, you mean the Unity Day festival?"

"Uh-huh," Santana nods and smiles.

"So, Sam's Dad owns Evanscorp?" Brittany asks with her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, he's like, the founder," she replies.

Brittany nods slowly. "I didn't know that."

They go quiet for a moment before Santana realizes that Brittany didn't actually answer her question. Her heart begins to beat erratically and she can feel a layer of sweat forming on her forehead again. She doesn't know if Brittany just forgot to answer or if she's not answering because she doesn't want to go but she's too polite to say.

"So-"

"I'd love to," Brittany cuts her off and Santana feels the pressure around her chest release.

"Really?"

Brittany breathes a soft laugh. "Yeah, it sounds like fun."

They smile at one another and then lapse into silence again. It's a much nicer silence than the last one and Santana can feel the happiness wanting to burst out of her chest. She can't believe she's sitting here, having coffee with Brittany Pierce _and_she gets to spend time with her again next week. If somebody had told her a few months ago, hell, a few _days_ago that this would be happening, she would have laughed in their face.

They stay that way - in their own, perfect little bubble for long moments while everybody else bustles around them. Santana has never felt so content to just sit and do nothing before and she drinks in every moment until she hears something that makes the smile fall from her face.

They're early.

They might be two blocks away but she can hear them talking… this wasn't supposed to happen for another half an hour.

At first she's a little angry about the fact that the camera she set up to catch her in action is now going to go off too late, but then she realizes she's going to have to get up and leave Brittany without an explanation and she's livid.

Another reason why it's so much easier to just _not_talk to people.

She stands abruptly and makes sure to glance down at her watch, just to make it a little more plausible. Brittany follows her with her eyes and her brow furrows.

"I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to go," says Santana.

"Right now?"

She can't help but feel a little happy at the disappointment in Brittany's voice. She doesn't _want_to disappoint Brittany, of course, but the fact that she doesn't want her to leave is definitely good.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I forgot I had this… thing." It's lame and she knows it but she pulls her purse off of her shoulder and begins rooting around inside it for a pen before Brittany can ask any more questions.

There's one right at the bottom, of course, and she pulls it out and grabs Brittany's hand in her own. The feel of it makes her slow down, but only for a second, and she doesn't dare look at Brittany's face.

She scribbles her phone number down on Brittany's palm before quickly capping the pen again and shoving it back in her purse. "Just, uh, call me or s-something and w-we'll-"

"We'll figure it out," Brittany cuts her off and when Santana lets herself glance at her face again, that look of confusion from before is gone. Brittany is just smiling at her, no questions, no judgement - and just when she thought she couldn't get any more perfect.

Santana nods and smiles sadly, she _really_doesn't want to leave. "Bye, Brittany." She forces her herself to say it, and then she turns on her heels and walks out of the coffee shop before Brittany can say it back.

She ducks into a deserted alley once she's outside, and checks to make sure nobody can see her before she begins ripping off her shirt and pants to reveal the red and blue spandex bodysuit underneath.

She fishes her gloves and mask out of her purse and tugs them on before stuffing her discarded clothes inside and then hiding the bag behind a trash can.

She sets off faster than usual. She wasted time back at the coffee shop and she doesn't want to risk letting them get away. She finds them exactly where she expected them to be, the four of them hiding in an alcove behind the bank, waiting for the armored truck pull round the corner so that they can pounce.

She considers for a moment asking them why they're early before she kicks their asses - it really did put a dampener on her afternoon - but decides against it.

A smirk pulls at her lips when they spot her, even though she knows they won't be able to see it. It's always much more of a rush than she'll care to admit - that look of fear in their eyes when they realize they're beaten before they've even begun. They've got balls for even trying though, she'll give them that.

Everybody in this city knows who the Spider-Woman is by now.

/

When she walks through the door of her apartment, Sam is already lying on the couch, eating last night's pizza and watching some show about monster trucks.

Santana rolls her eyes at him.

"Hey," he mumbles as she closes the door behind her. "Where've you been? Your class ended hours ago…"

It's not demanding, the way he asks, just mildly curious and maybe a little concerned. "I had to stop a bank robbery," she deadpans as she drops down next to him on the couch. He snatches his legs up quickly so that she doesn't sit on them.

"Doofus," he mutters as he sets the empty pizza box on the coffee table and then relaxes back again. "C'mon, seriously," he says.

She guesses that trick really _does_work.

She wishes sometimes that she could just tell Sam the truth, but she knows how much he would worry about her if he knew. She doesn't even think the fact that she can probably take better care of herself than _he_ can would put his mind at rest.

"Actually," she smirks, resting her feet up on the coffee table. "I ran into Brittany and we got coffee."

Sam tears his gaze away from the TV to look at her with his eyebrows raised. "Brittany Pierce?"

"Uh-huh," she nods and she can't contain her smile.

"Wow, how is she?"

"She's good." She figures Brittany smiled more than she frowned while they were talking so it's not a _total_lie. "Actually, I invited her to the Unity Day thing with us, is that okay?"

Sam shrugs. "Sure, I'll let my Dad know. Actually, that works out pretty good, 'cause I'm bringing Mercedes." He grins at her and she smiles back.

"Awesome," she replies.

He nods. "So, you and Brittany… is that like, a date?"

Santana's heart jolts and she feels her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. "What? No!" she splutters.

Sam just rolls his eyes. "Right, so you got coffee with her today, and you've invited her to my Dad's party, _and_you've been in love with her your entire life, but it's _not_a date…"

Santana just stares at him, incredulous. Her mouth opens and closes a couple of times but no words come out and then finally Sam lets out a heavy sigh. "C'mon, Santana. D'you really think I care? You're happy, I'm happy." He shrugs and then turns his attention back to the TV.

Her heart settles a little on hearing that. She's not really sure why she reacted that way to begin with - Sam's always known, she's sure of it, they've just never talked about it out loud before. She gulps. "I don't think it's a date," she mumbles. "I just asked her if she wanted to come and she said _yes_."

Sam tilts his head to look at her again. "Well, maybe you can _make it_a date," he suggests.

Santana shakes her head. "I don't think she likes me that way, Sam," she tells him and looks down at her hands.

"Hey," he says gently and puts his hand under her chin to tilt her face back up, "of course she does. She has no reason not to," he smiles.

She can't help but think that Brittany actually has _a lot_of reasons not to like her that way, not least of all because she's a girl, but she loves Sam for trying and she gives him a grateful smile anyway.

"Thanks."

/

It turns out being Spider-Woman is a real pain in the ass when you have a formal event to go to. Brittany looks completely perfect in her dress, of course, and Sam and Mercedes look great too. Meanwhile, Santana is stuck in pants and a blouse because she can't hide her Spider-Woman outfit underneath a dress.

She only stops scowling because Brittany tells her that her face will get stuck that way and she starts to feel bad because she's supposed to be showing her a good time.

They get to watch the parade from a balcony on the side of one of the nicest hotels in Manhattan - the same building the after party will be held in - and she has to admit, it is kind of cool.

They have a great view and she even runs inside to get her camera at one point so that she can snap a few pictures. Her favorite is a candid she manages to get of Brittany leaning on the balcony rail and grinning at something she can see down on the street.

Sam takes her camera inside for her when he goes in with Mercedes to refill their drinks, leaving her alone with Brittany. She's not sure what Sam meant when he said that she should _make it a date_but she guesses this is his way of putting that plan into action.

She leans on the rail, too, and they take in the parade in silence for a few moments before Brittany turns to her. "Thank you for inviting me to this," she says with a sincere smile on her face, "I'm having a really good time."

"You're welcome," Santana replies with a grin.

"Where's Sam's Dad?" Brittany asks her. "I haven't seen him all day."

"Probably inside, doing the rounds," Santana shrugs, "A lot of his business partners are here."

Brittany nods and then looks back down at the street, but Santana just keeps looking at the side of her face. "D'you think it looks as good from down there?" Brittany asks.

Santana shakes her head. "Probably not. Most things look prettier from far away," she answers.

Brittany turns to look at her then with a funny little smile on her face. "That's true," she agrees and then pauses for a second, "_Most_things." Her eyes wander over Santana's body for a moment and then back up to her face and she smirks at her in a way that makes Santana blush furiously.

She opens her mouth to speak, although she's not sure what she's going to say, but the balcony starts filling with people in suits and she's saved from having to think of something. Sam and Mercedes walk out a few seconds later and she guesses it must be for the end of the procession.

Sam ruffles her hair as he steps up next to her and she glares at him but he doesn't look fazed. He looks like he's about to say something to her but then his mouth closes and his eyebrows knit together as he looks past her head. "What the hell is that?" he mumbles.

She and Brittany both turn to look at whatever he's referring to and, sure enough, there's something flying through the air towards them.

She can't tell what it is until it gets closer, and even then she still doesn't really know. Whatever it is, it's wearing some weird, green, goblin costume and riding on some kind of glider, like the Silver Surfer.

She thinks it's just a part of the parade until it's only a few feet away from them and hurls a strange-looking yellow orb right at the balcony.

The next thing she's aware of is an explosion and the ground beneath her feet becoming unstable.

She can hear people on the street below them screaming and she turns and scurries back inside the building without even hesitating.

She pushes her way through panicked and confused cluster of people inside until she makes it to the bathroom, before locking herself inside one of the cubicles and tearing out the purse that she'd stashed behind the toilet earlier.

She's gotten pretty quick at doing it now - ripping off her clothes and pulling on her mask and gloves, and once she's ready she stands on the back of the toilet and pops the window out of the frame before throwing herself out of it.

She fires a web from her wrist to latch onto the building opposite and stop herself from hitting the ground, and then she angles her weight to give herself enough momentum to swing around the corner.

She can see that goblin _thing_looming over Brittany and she feels the pit of her stomach flood with anger. She increases her speed and glides towards them and when she's close enough she swings feet-first into the goblin's chest and knocks him onto his back.

She lands, squatted down, on the steady part of the balcony. As far as she can tell Brittany is the only person in danger and she turns to go help her on instinct, but before she can, something thuds against the back of her head and knocks her to the floor.

She flips onto her back to find the goblin standing over her, seemingly about to aim his fist right at her head, but she kicks him firmly in the stomach before he can.

It's hard enough to knock him over the edge of the balcony and she's quick to scramble to her feet and scurry towards Brittany.

There's a gap between them where the middle of the balcony is now missing and Brittany's starting to slip. "I'm coming!" Santana yells across to her. She's not sure if Brittany heard her or not because her expression stays the same - wide-eyed and terrified.

She prepares herself to leap across but before she gets a chance, she sees something on the ground that makes her stomach churn with nausea. One of the steel structures that was supporting the stage down on the street is about to collapse and there's a little boy underneath it, about to be crushed.

She throws one, last desperate glance back at Brittany and then she fires her web at the next building over and dives off the edge of the balcony.

There are a couple of awful seconds when she thinks she isn't going to make it. She manages to glide down and scoop the boy up in her free arm, dragging him out of harm's way right before the beam collides with the ground behind them. She hands him over to his hysterical mother and then her eyes go immediately back to the balcony which seems to be hanging on by virtually nothing now.

Santana moves towards it but then she feels something clatter painfully into her back and without warning she's moving upwards. She's disoriented and she doesn't realize that she must be on the goblin's glider until she's crashing into the wall right above Brittany. She sees pieces of debris fall down onto her and it makes her heart clench because she can't get to her. She can barely move at all.

She feels the goblin's hand tug at the back of her mask and for a terrifying second she thinks he might remove it, but instead of doing that he shoves her head forwards until it hits the wall.

It makes her vision go blurry and she involuntarily groans. The inside of her mask becomes warm and wet against her face and it makes her nauseous.

She vaguely registers something that sounds a lot like an explosion, only much smaller, and then suddenly she's falling. She manages to land on her feet on the stable part of the balcony and she's not sure why the goblin let her go until she glances up and sees plumes of smoke billowing out of his glider. She guesses one of the police officers on the ground must have shot it.

She hears him growl as he looks down at his feet and then he turns his attention back to Santana, his yellow eyes piercing straight through her even though she knows it's just a costume. "I'll be back," he roars and then he turns and flies away, a lot slower than he came, on his broken glider.

_That's original,_ she thinks to herself as she watches him leave. She's only shocked back to reality when she hears Brittany scream again. The balcony crumbles and tremors beneath her feet and then she watches in horror as Brittany slips off the edge.

It's enough to reorient her and she dives after Brittany without hesitation, catching her in mid-air around the waist. She uses her free arm to fire a web that bungees them away from the ground before propelling them both around a corner and out of harm's way.

It feels weird - flying between the buildings with someone in her arms like this. She has to keep switching which arm she holds onto Brittany with according to which arm she's using to shoot her web from, but she eventually finds a rhythm.

She realizes after about thirty seconds that she's probably taking Brittany way further than she needs to, but she's enjoying the way Brittany clings to her far too much to stop.

She knows she has to, eventually. So when she spots a really pretty roof garden up ahead she decides it's the perfect place to drop Brittany off and guides them gracefully towards it.

She sets Brittany down gently and when she pulls far enough away so that she can see her face she's surprised to find that she's smiling. "That was incredible," Brittany gasps. "Thank you."

Santana's actually glad for her mask right now so that Brittany can't see the way she's grinning like a complete dork. "You're welcome," she tells her.

She starts walking away but Brittany grabs onto her arm and stops her. "Wait! Who are you?" she asks.

"You know who I am," replies Santana, a smirk forming beneath her mask.

Brittany's eyebrows knit together. "I do?"

"Yeah… I'm your friendly, neighborhood Spider-Woman," she replies before diving off the edge of the roof and leaving Brittany giggling in her wake.

/

She climbs in through the same window she climbed out of and practically throws her clothes back on before flinging open the door to the cubicle and scurrying over to the mirror to check her appearance. It's only then that she remembers the gash just above her eyebrow. She wets a paper towel and rubs furiously at her head to wash away all the dried blood until it's not quite so noticeable before slinging her purse over her shoulder and exiting the bathroom.

She could kick herself right now. What was she _thinking_, leaving Brittany all alone in a part of the city she probably doesn't even know?

She pushes her way past the still-panicked clusters of people towards the stairwell but she's forced to stop when Sam and Mercedes appear in front of her, accompanied by Sam's Dad.

Sam puts his hands on her shoulders and his eyes dart between different points on her face. "We've been looking everywhere for you! Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she tries to push past him but he pushes her back again.

"Where's Brittany?" he asks.

Santana huffs out a breath. "Spider-Woman saved her. I'm gonna go find her now," she answers and then finally pushes past him only to be stopped by his Dad.

He holds onto her wrist and looks down at her with worried eyes. "Are you going to bring her back here?" he asks and she nods quickly. "Okay. I'll have a car take you all home," he tells her.

"Thanks, Mr Evans," she smiles. She tries to walk away but his grip tightens on her wrist and stops her. His eyes narrow and study her face for a moment and it makes her uncomfortable because she's not sure Mr Evans has ever looked at her that way before.

"That's a nasty cut," he comments. He looks like he's mulling something over inside his head and she's not sure what exactly she's supposed to say or why he would look so concerned over a stupid, little cut.

"I-it's nothing," she mumbles.

She pulls her arm out of his grip and walks away from him without looking back.

/

She finds Brittany a couple of blocks away from the hotel and feels a weight lift from her shoulders upon seeing her.

Brittany doesn't spot her back for another few seconds but when she does she smiles that smile that makes Santana's knees weak and begins jogging, _actually jogging,_to get to her.

"Santana!" she cries once she's close enough and then she throws her arms around Santana's neck with such force that she stumbles back a little before letting her arms encircle Brittany's waist.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Brittany mumbles into her neck.

Santana nods. "Y-yeah, m-me too," she stutters back.

When Brittany draws back she's still smiling, and her arms don't loosen around Santana's neck. She's starting to get that too-hot, too-close feeling again and she can't bring herself to meet Brittany's eyes but suddenly she forgets about all those things because Brittany darts forwards and presses their lips together.

And suddenly, she's standing in the middle of a crowded street in Manhattan in Brittany Pierce's arms, and Brittany has her bottom lip pulled between her own in a way that makes her stomach summersault and her heart thunder against her ribcage and she doesn't even care that everybody can see them.

She wants this moment to last forever but just like anything good, it can't.

Brittany looks surprised and flushed when she pulls away and Santana isn't sure how her own face looks. She _feels_dazed and happy but she's not sure if that's coming across on her features. She's far too dizzy to be sure of much of anything right now.

Brittany gulps. "I-I'm sorry," she stammers, "I was just… happy to see you."

Santana shakes her head because she's not sure why Brittany is apologizing. "No… don't be sorry," she mumbles as she subconsciously holds onto Brittany tighter, afraid she'll move away if she doesn't. "I-I wanted… I like you, Brittany," she stammers. It's the understatement of the century but it's all she can say right now and she hopes it's enough while at the same time hoping that it's not too much.

She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding when Brittany smiles at her. "You do?" Brittany almost whispers.

Santana smiles a shaky smile. "Yeah," she nods, "of course I do."

Brittany's smile turns into a grin then and Santana is having a hard time believing that this isn't a really cruel dream that she's going to wake up from at any moment.

"We should… get back," she mumbles, "Sam's Dad's arranging a car to take us home."

Brittany nods and they slowly let go of one another to turn and start walking back in the direction of the hotel, side-by-side. Her heart leaps into her throat when Brittany slides her hand into Santana's and links their fingers together.

She knows she's grinning like an idiot and she knows that the people they're walking past probably think she's crazy, but she doesn't care.

She figures people can think whatever the hell they like as long as she has Brittany's hand to hold to make it all worth it.

/

So it's technically not stalking if you're just following somebody to protect them, right? It's been a few days since the Unity Day festival and she hasn't seen Brittany since then, but they have texted and talked on the phone.

Well, technically she's _seen_her a lot, she guesses. Brittany just doesn't know about it. This city is a dangerous place to walk around alone in at night and maybe it's a little creepy that Santana follows her home after work but she needs to do it for her own sanity.

Brittany told her yesterday that she had lined up an audition for an off-Broadway show and Santana had been stupidly happy that she'd taken her advice until she told her which neighborhood the audition was in and what time it was scheduled for.

So now, as has become her nightly habit, she scales the rooftops of Manhattan as she secretly follows Brittany home in the pouring rain.

She wants to talk to her, so badly, even more than on the other nights. She wants to ask her how her audition went and offer to take her out for a late dinner as a celebration. She can't see Brittany's face properly from up here so she can't tell if she looks happy or sad. She guesses she'll just have to wait until she gets home and calls her to find out.

Her train of thought is broken when she sees Brittany head down an alley she _specifically_told her to avoid. It does cut about ten minutes off her journey home but, _really_? A dark alley in a bad neighborhood is no place for _her_girl to be all by herself.

She can already see shadowy figures closing in on Brittany from both ends and she feels her heart leap into her mouth. _Please just walk past her. Please just walk past her._ She chants it in her head like a mantra but they don't listen.

They grab at her coat from behind and she watches as they rip it from her body while the two men in front snatch her purse and throw it unceremoniously on the rain-soaked ground. Brittany screams and the way they taunt her makes her blood boil.

It propels her into action and she's on the ground before she knows it, firing webs from each wrist and pulling two of the men off of Brittany and sending them crashing into some trash cans.

The other men spin on their heels to face her then and she feels herself smirking without even really meaning to. They charge at her and she lets them think they're actually going to get her for a moment, just to taunt them the way they taunted Brittany, before leaping gracefully over their heads and landing behind them.

She knocks them both to the ground with her fists while the two men she threw into the trash cans watch on in horror. As soon as they realize how easily she defeated their friends they scamper away with their tails between their legs and Santana grins after them.

She hears shuffling behind her and she's about to turn around and ask Brittany if she's okay when she realizes that in her haste to get down there she forgot to put on her mask and gloves.

She quickly ducks into an alcove before Brittany can see her face and pulls herself swiftly back up onto the roof, silently thanking the rain and darkness for obscuring her features enough so that Brittany didn't recognize her.

She peers over the edge of the wall and when she sees the way Brittany is looking around for her, crestfallen, it pinches at her heart. She decides she can't just leave her now without saying anything so she pulls her mask and gloves out of her boot and tugs them on before diving off the roof and riding her web down the side of the building until she's hanging upside-down, face level with Brittany.

"Hey," Santana calls when Brittany doesn't spot her right away. She smiles when Brittany jolts and spins on her heels to face her. "You're getting pretty good at getting yourself into trouble," she comments.

Brittany grins as she squints through the rain. "You're getting pretty good at saving my life," she retorts, "Are you stalking me or something?"

She knows Brittany is joking but she winces a little because she's pretty much hit the nail on the head. "Of course not," she lies.

"You're amazing," Brittany blurts, the tips of her ears turning red.

Santana feels herself blush, too, and not for the first time she's very glad for her mask. "I don't think so," she mumbles.

"Well, you are," Brittany insists, nodding her head. "So… do I get to thank you properly this time?"

Santana gulps as Brittany steps closer, closing the space between them. She reaches up to the base of Santana's mask and Santana thinks for sure that she's going to take it off and realize who she is.

She wants to stop her but she can't bring herself to do it. She thinks maybe, deep down, that she _wants_Brittany to know. It would be nice to have somebody in her life who knows the truth and she trusts Brittany more than she trusts anybody else in the entire world, apart from maybe Sam.

She can feel her belly trembling more and more, the further Brittany rolls down her mask - but to Santana's surprise, she stops just past her lips, right under her nose.

And then Brittany kisses her.

She thinks Brittany probably only intended to give her a little peck but as soon as their lips touch Santana can't help but kiss her back properly. She's sure Brittany will pull away, but she doesn't, and then suddenly they're making out, in the rain, and she's upside-down, and it's absolutely, hands-down, the sexiest thing that's ever happened to her.

Kissing Brittany feels so much better than she ever imagined it would and she didn't even think that was possible. She thinks about all the best moments in her life: beating up Puck, discovering her abilities, the first time she put her glasses on and realized that she could suddenly see better without them.

None of that even compares to this.

When Brittany draws back she keeps her eyes closed for a moment, just to savor the kiss, while Brittany rolls her mask back up to cover her face completely again.

Once she finally opens them she's a little surprised to find that Brittany isn't smiling like she was before – she's stepping back with wide eyes, and touching her fingers to her lips.

"_Oh, my God_," Brittany whispers and Santana's heart seizes inside her chest.

She knows.

Santana wants to shake her head or deny it but how can she? Brittany hasn't even accused her of anything yet, and when she does it'll only be the truth.

She hesitates only for a moment before she pulls herself back up the side of the building, as swiftly as she can, and away from Brittany.

She thinks she hears Brittany call after her as she goes but she ignores it. She doesn't know what to do now… nobody has even come close to finding out her secret before. Should she lie? Will Brittany even confront her about it?

She begins scaling the rooftops again, only at lightning speed this time, because she finds it's the best way to clear her head these days.

She tries to think of reasons, excuses, things she can say to explain away what Brittany seems to think she knows.

But most of all, she wonders if Brittany knowing the truth would really be such a bad thing.

/

She's full-on panicking by the time she gets to her apartment block. She finds her purse where she stashed it behind the loose brick around the back of the building and pulls her clothes on right then and there, hoping that nobody will see.

Sam is in the bathroom when she gets inside and she's glad because it gives her a moment to compose herself and try to look a little less flustered.

She figured scaling the rooftops of Lower Manhattan for an hour or so would help put things in perspective the way it usually does but if anything, having all that time to think has just made her feel worse.

Sam steps out of the bathroom, wearing his favorite shirt and smelling far too strongly of Cologne and her brow furrows because it's almost eleven o'clock and she has no idea why he would only be leaving now if he has plans.

"Where are you going?" she asks. She kind of wants him to stick around because Sam's always been really good at distracting her from her own thoughts when she needs him to.

"I'm staying at Mercedes' place tonight," he answers and she feels herself deflate.

"And you're just leaving _now_?"

"Uh-huh." He steps in front of the mirror by the front door and starts tweaking his hair. "She gets off work soon and I'm gonna walk her home. How do I look?" he asks, turning around and smiling at her.

She rolls her eyes at him. "Fine."

He grins like it's a compliment and goes back to checking his hair in the mirror. On any other night she would probably think it was kind of sweet.

"I'm going to my room," she tells him and he grunts in acknowledgement.

She shuts her bedroom door behind her, probably a little too hard, when she gets in there before dumping her purse on the floor by her bed.

She starts pacing aimlessly, trying to think of what she's going to do. She paces for so long she worries she might actually wear holes into the hardwood but she still doesn't stop.

After a while she hears a knock at the front door but it doesn't really register until Sam has already answered it and she hears Brittany's voice ring out through the apartment.

She thinks her heart might actually stop beating.

"Santana, Brittany's here!" she hears Sam call out, "I'm leaving now!"

She doesn't respond, her voice seems to have stopped working, but she hears Sam tell Brittany that she's in her room before he leaves.

It's dead silent for a moment and then she hears Brittany start walking; each step she takes feels like somebody taking a sledgehammer to Santana's heart and she looks around her desperately, as if some magical way out of this might be written on the walls.

For a moment she actually considers diving out of her bedroom window but that would only confirm what she thinks Brittany already knows to be true.

There's a knock at her bedroom door and she freezes. She doesn't tell her to come in but Brittany does anyway, creaking the door open slowly and slipping inside with her eyes cast down.

She has her coat and purse slung over her arm and she's still soaked from the rain and judging by the amount of time it took her to get here, Santana figures she must have walked.

"You told me," Brittany mumbles.

"W-what?" she stutters.

Brittany looks up at her and drops her coat and purse on the floor before taking a step closer so that there are only a couple of feet between them. "At the coffee shop when I first ran into you, I thought you were kidding."

Brittany's voice sounds even softer than it usually does and Santana looks down at the floor and gulps. "I'm sorry," she mumbles

Brittany steps even closer then. Santana still isn't looking up but she sees Brittany's toes almost touching own. They can't be more than an inch apart now.

Her heart jolts when Brittany takes her face in her hands and tilts her head up so that they're looking at one another again.

Brittany doesn't say anything for a long while. She just stares at Santana, right in the eyes as her thumbs rub soothing circles on her cheeks.

She starts to feel a little uneasy because of it but she doesn't move - she lets Brittany look. She owes her that much.

"I can't believe all this time it was you," she whispers and then her hands slide down Santana's face to her shoulders and then her collar bones. Her fingers start unbuttoning Santana's blouse and suddenly panic seizes her.

"Wait," she whispers and she brings her hands up to hold onto Brittany's wrists and stop her going any further.

"It's okay," Brittany whispers back and holds Santana's gaze for a moment.

Santana wants to tell her _no it's not_. She wants to stop her and deny everything but how can she when Brittany is looking at her that way? With so much affection and sweetness and sincerity.

Brittany's always been so, damn _sincere_. Sometimes she thinks it's the thing she loves most about her.

She nods, almost imperceptibly, and she's pretty sure Brittany wouldn't have been able to see it if she wasn't standing so close.

Brittany smiles a tiny smile and then her eyes go back to watching her own hands as she continues unbuttoning Santana's shirt. It's slow, deliberate, the way she does it. It makes the hairs on the back of Santana's neck stand on end, even as her heart thuds louder and faster, the more of her Spider-Woman bodysuit is revealed.

When Brittany is finished her hands go to Santana's shoulders before sliding the blouse gently off her arms and then dropping it in a puddle on the floor.

Brittany looks back at Santana's face for a moment afterwards, before placing her hand over the spider emblem on her chest. Her expression is unreadable and Santana wants to ask if something is wrong, but then Brittany's hand starts moving again and words seem to fail her.

Her fingers slide downwards, slowly, tracing firmly over the patterns in the spandex and Santana can feel the muscles in her stomach tense and tighten in their wake.

She doesn't stop until she gets to the waistband of Santana's pants and then she uses both hands to unsnap the button and pull down the zipper in one, fluid motion.

Santana feels a stuttered gasp skate past her lips and she closes her mouth tightly in case Brittany thinks it's because she doesn't like what they're doing. She definitely _does_like what they're doing, even if it is making her heart beat so fast she's a little afraid it might die on her any second.

Brittany only has to push Santana's pants down a little way before they fall down to her ankles of their own accord. Santana kicks off her shoes and steps out of them right before Brittany closes what little distance there is between them by snaking her arms around Santana's waist.

She thinks she might be about to kiss her, but one of the niggling worries that she couldn't seem to shake off between leaving Brittany in the alley and returning to her apartment resurfaces and she just can't let her.

"Wait," she whispers, just as Brittany's lips are about to connect with hers. Brittany's brow furrows but she doesn't say anything. Just waits. "Do you…" she gulps and takes a heavy breath, "Do you just like me because you know who I am now?"

Brittany's face contorts a little, like the question hurt her, and Santana almost wants to take it back but she _has_to know. It _was_ Spider-Woman she kissed back in that alley, and it was Spider-Woman who she called _amazing_. That has to mean something.

"I liked her because she saved me," Brittany answers honestly, "because she saves people every day and I think that's incredible, but… I've liked _you_ for as long as I can remember, because you're Santana Lopez and Spider-Woman or not, there's nobody else like you."

Santana breathes out a shaky, nervous laugh and Brittany smiles back at her. She can feel her heart welling up. This moment seems impossible but here it is, actually happening.

"Tonight didn't change the way I feel," Brittany continues, "I just… connected up the dots," she shrugs.

They hold each other's gaze again for a moment. Santana isn't sure if she's supposed to say anything or not but Brittany makes the decision for her when she leans forwards and presses their lips together.

Santana can't stop smiling as they kiss. It all seems too good to be true. It's funny how sometimes you don't realize how badly you want something until you have it. Brittany knowing the truth feels like the weight of the world has been lifted off her shoulders, and even though she's pretty sure the feel of Brittany's lips on hers is the main reason she feels so good right now, that's definitely an added bonus.

When Brittany pulls away they're both a little breathless. She rests their foreheads together and strokes her hands up and down Santana's sides before whispering, "You might have to help me out here. I've never taken one of these off somebody before."

Santana giggles and she sees Brittany is smiling back at her as she moves her head back a little. "There's a zipper on the back," she tells her.

Brittany nods and then her hands slide round Santana's hips and up her back and she feels her smile fade a little. Their bodies are pressed so closely together now that it makes her chest tight and a strange heat burn low in her belly.

She feels goose bumps erupt across her skin as Brittany slides the zipper slowly down her spine and as much as she enjoys the feel of it, it makes her body feel antsy and she almost wants to tell Brittany to go faster.

The zipper stops at the base of her spine, just above her butt, and when Brittany's done she moves her hands up to the top of Santana's arms and begins peeling the suit off her body.

Santana trembles, the more skin is exposed and she thinks Brittany can tell she's nervous because she keeps leaning in and placing gentle kisses on her. First her neck, and then her chest and her belly and then she drops to her knees and Santana gulps.

Brittany drags the spandex down her thighs and her calves and then Santana steps out of the suit, one foot after the other with Brittany's help until suddenly she's standing there in just her bra and panties.

Brittany doesn't stand again right away. She leans forwards and begins pressing kisses to Santana's stomach as her hands come up to wrap around her thighs.

"Oh… _G-god_," Santana gasps as Brittany starts kissing just above the waistband of her underwear, softly at first, but then hard and open-mouthed and she can't help the way her fingers move to tangle in Brittany's hair.

She keeps kissing her there until Santana can't stand it anymore and has to pull her back up. She pulls Brittany's face towards hers fits their mouths together urgently, her tongue pushing against Brittany's.

"This doesn't seem very fair," she breathes against Brittany's lips after a few seconds of smacks and gasps.

Brittany smiles at her and nods as she draws back, before kicking her shoes off and moving her hands to the hem of her still-damp dress. She draws it up her own body and Santana's hands instinctively go to Brittany's waist as she pulls her dress the rest of the way off. She drops it on the floor behind her.

Santana swallows thickly and tries not to let her eyes linger too long on Brittany's body but it's practically impossible. She doesn't know where she wants to kiss first but Brittany makes that decision for her when she leans in, still smiling, and connects their lips again.

It's a much less hungry kiss than the last. Santana just enjoys the feel of Brittany's body pressed against her own and how smooth the skin on Brittany's back is as she lets her hands run softly over her.

She jolts a little when Brittany unclasps her bra. She was so caught up in kissing that she didn't realize that was what she was trying to do, but she lets her pull it off without breaking the kiss.

She's pretty sure she doesn't ever want to stop kissing Brittany again.

They have to pull apart momentarily for air but Santana just slides her lips over Brittany's cheek and then starts pressing kisses to her neck instead. Brittany unclasps and removes her own bra after a few moments and Santana wonders briefly if she was supposed to do it for her.

She can feel Brittany trembling too now. Her hands come up to grip tightly at Santana's shoulders, and as she kisses down her throat and sucks the skin hard into her mouth, Brittany whimpers.

The sound seems to turn that burning heat in her belly into a deep, relentless ache and all of a sudden, she feels like Brittany just isn't close enough.

When Brittany pushes her backwards onto the bed and climbs on top of her she feels her stomach flood with butterflies and as soon as she's close enough she bites at Brittany's bottom lip and pulls her into a frantic, urgent kiss.

Fingers tangle in hair and faces are tugged and Brittany gasps as she breaks their kiss and begins sucking on Santana's neck.

There's a tiny, niggling thought in the back of Santana's mind that maybe they shouldn't be doing this - that it's happening too soon and they should wait.

But she's already waited _so_long.

She's wanted this since she was capable of wanting this and she's loved Brittany forever. So really, how could it possibly be too soon?

"Are you okay?" Brittany breathes.

She realizes suddenly that Brittany isn't kissing her neck anymore. She's hovering over her, her chest heaving and her forehead creased with concern.

Santana realizes she probably looks a complete mess right now. She's trembling more than she thought possible, her breathing is choppy and shallow and she's clinging to Brittany like she's afraid she might disappear.

She nods frantically because, despite how it might look, she's pretty sure this is the best she's ever felt.

Brittany hesitates for a second but Santana leans up captures her lips again and Brittany doesn't resist.

She feels her stomach tighten with anticipation when Brittany's hand starts trailing down her body and when it finds its way beneath the waistband of her underwear she gasps against Brittany's lips and has to stop kissing.

She's not prepared for the way her own body moves as Brittany starts up a rhythm with both her hand and her hips. It's like it's completely out of her control which isn't something she would usually like, but with Brittany it's okay, somehow.

After a while she moves her own hand from Brittany's back and slides it underneath her panties, just to feel like she's doing something besides whimpering and involuntarily thrusting her hips.

Brittany moans against her cheek and then buries her face in the crook of her neck and Santana marvels at the way she can feel Brittany's stomach muscles flexing and contracting against her arm.

The pressure in her belly builds and builds and as Brittany's movements get jerky and frantic she feels the fingers on her free hand dig hard into Brittany's back, like they're trying to pull her closer, somehow.

Brittany freezes and lets out a strangled moan into Santana's neck. It makes something inside her snap and all of a sudden her body is moving uncontrollably against Brittany's and every muscle in her body seems to contract with pleasure.

Her fingernails dig into Brittany's back in a way that _must_be painful but that she can't stop until she's falling back flat against the mattress, limp and panting.

Brittany collapses on top of her and they stay that way for a few long moments while they catch their breath.

Santana had no idea it was possible to feel like every single thing in your life was complete and perfect and exactly the way it's supposed to be, or at least to not care about the things that _aren't_perfect because the good things outweigh the bad things so vastly that they don't seem to matter.

Brittany is the first to move. She lifts her body a little but Santana snakes her arms around her back, just to hold her close. They smile at one another for a moment and then Brittany leans in to kiss her - the most perfect kiss anybody has ever had, she's sure of it.

When Brittany pulls away she's still smiling and Santana reaches up to cup her cheek, just because she can. "Brittany," she breathes, "You are my absolute, favorite person in the whole world. Did you know what?"

Brittany grins and looks away, bashful, and it's completely adorable. "You are way too sweet, Santana," she mumbles before looking back at her.

Santana's pretty sure if anybody else called her _sweet_she would kick them in the groin, just to prove them wrong; but like a lot of things, it sounds good coming from Brittany.

Brittany moves in to kiss her again and Santana thinks that if you could die from being too happy, this wouldn't be a bad way to go at all.

/

"So _that's_how you beat up Puck," mumbles Brittany.

Santana just answers with an, "Mm-hmm," because she figures Brittany is just thinking out loud. They still haven't been to sleep yet and it's starting to get light out, but Santana doesn't mind. She thinks she could lay awake in bed with Brittany forever and not get bored.

Brittany's head lifts off her shoulder all of a sudden and she props herself up on her elbow and peers down at Santana. "And why you suddenly stopped wearing your glasses?"

"Uh-huh," Santana nods as she curls a strand of Brittany's hair around her finger, "Thank God."

"Hey, I liked your glasses," Brittany pouts.

"They made me look like a nerd."

"Nuh-uh." Brittany shakes her head, "They looked good."

Santana just rolls her eyes up at Brittany but she can't help smiling. "If you say so."

Brittany just hums like she's won but then her smile fades slowly as she presses her palm to Santana's cheek. "I can't believe you never told anybody," she murmurs.

She shrugs. "It was easier that way."

Brittany gives her a reluctant nod. "Do you wish I hadn't figured it out?" she asks tentatively.

Santana moves her hand so that it's on Brittany's arm and starts sliding it up and down soothingly, from her elbow crease to her shoulder and back again. "No," she sighs, "No, I'm glad you know. I… want you to know who I am," she tells her.

Brittany smiles and Santana hopes it means that what she said didn't sound as stupid as she thinks it did. "We should get some sleep," Brittany hushes, and lies back down with her head resting on Santana's shoulder and her arm snaked over her stomach, "I have work in a few hours."

"Okay," Santana replies.

They lay that way in silence for a little while. Santana decides to wait until Brittany falls asleep before she goes to sleep herself. She waits for her breathing to change or for the hand she's using to clutch at the comforter on top of her stomach to go limp, but it never happens.

She's about to ask her if she's okay but Brittany speaks first. "Santana?" she whispers.

"Mm?"

Brittany gulps. "What was that thing that attacked us at the Unity Day festival?"

She huffs out a breath. "I don't know, Britt. I wish I did."

"The papers are calling him _The Green Goblin_."

Santana smiles a little because it was actually her who came up with that name when she was dropping some pictures off at the Bugle. The editor overheard her and then claimed it was his idea. She doesn't mind or anything - _The Green Goblin _is a stupid name anyway.

"Yeah, I know," she whispers. Her eyes are starting to feel really heavy and she lets them drift closed as her fingers trace lazy circles over Brittany's back.

"What d'you think he wants?" Brittany asks.

"I dunno, but don't worry, Britt. Somebody's gonna stop him."

She feels Brittany hug her tighter then and she guesses it's because now that she knows the truth, she also probably knows that whenever Santana says _somebody _that way, she invariably means herself.

/

You know those movies where the nerdy guy _finally_gets the girl and they sleep together for the first time and then the next morning, when he walks down the street, all the birds sing and music plays and his smile is brighter than the sun?

Santana always thought those scenes were kind of lame, but she thinks she gets it now. Actually, she thinks she might be _living_it.

She slept for pretty much the whole day after Brittany left for work, since they didn't get much sleep last night, and even the way her editor yells at her for bringing in her latest batch of photographs at eight o'clock in the evening can't ruin her good mood.

She actually high-fives a stranger as she's walking home.

When she gets inside her apartment she decides to call Brittany right away because she knows she will have finished her shift at the coffee shop by now, and they had arranged for Brittany to come back right after work.

Brittany answers almost right away but Santana immediately knows that something is wrong. She can hear gasps and whimpers, but no words. "B-Brittany?" she stutters, panic-stricken.

"Santana?" Brittany sobs, "Is that you?"

Her stomach bottoms out. "Yeah it's me, Britt. Where are you?" she urges.

"Santana, he's-"

"Queensboro Bridge," another voice cuts her off. Her stomach churns with nausea because she knows exactly who it is. She's never met anybody else with a voice like his. "Better hurry," he taunts and then the line goes dead.

She lowers the phone slowly away from her ear and stares at it for a moment, stunned. She can feel her heart beating in her ears and a knot forming in her gut.

She drops the phone and shakes her head violently to try to jolt her body into action and it seems to work. She rips her shirt open without even unfastening the buttons before pulling off her jeans and tearing her mask and gloves out of her purse.

She tugs them on at the same time as she heads for the living room window, flinging it open and jumping out without even hesitating.

/

It seems to take an age to get to the bridge. She swings through the city faster than she ever has before but it feels like slow motion, somehow. There's so much more at stake this time and she has no idea what she's going to find when she gets there.

Her chest feels a little less tight as soon as the bridge comes into view, but her relief is short lived when there's an explosion that causes the traffic to grind to a halt and the cable that holds up the trams to snap.

It makes her pick up her pace and as she gets closer she spots the Goblin at the top of one of the bridge's towers and her stomach knots violently when she sees that Brittany is with him. He's dangling her by her throat over the edge of the bridge and with his other hand he's holding onto a cable that supports a tram-ful of children.

She lands on a beam just below them and her heart aches when she makes eye contact with Brittany. She wishes Brittany could see _her _eyes, too.

"Spider-Woman! This is why only fools are heroes," the Goblin taunts when he sees her, "You never know when some lunatic will come along with a sadistic choice!" He tilts his head towards Brittany and Santana feels her blood boil over with rage. "Let the woman you love die or…" he glances the other way, towards the cable car, "the little children."

"Please, don't do this!" she begs. It's not something she would usually do – beg - not for _anyone_, but the way Brittany struggles against the Goblin's grip and screams desperately tugs at something that's been dormant inside her since her Uncle Ben was killed.

She would say it was love but she's always known that she loved Brittany, so it can't be that. It's something bigger and deeper. She thinks maybe she's just realizing there's nothing that could ever happen that would make her _stop_loving Brittany, even though she thought the part of her that was capable of that was broken. It makes her feel incredibly strong and incredibly weak at the same time.

"We are who we choose to be, Santana!" shouts the Goblin and for a moment, she's so stunned that he knows who she is that she forgets what's happening. "Now, choose!"

She watches on in horror as he lets go of both Brittany and the cable car at the same time and for a moment all she hears is screaming. She's not sure if it's coming from inside her head or if there are actually people screaming but it shocks her into moving.

It never really was a choice to begin with. She dives after Brittany without even thinking about it.

She catches her around the waist, the same way she did when she saved her from the balcony, and fires a web that latches onto the side of the bridge.

They swing across the underside of it and she catches the tram's cable with her free hand before shooting another web that sticks to one of the bridge's steel girders, causing her, Brittany and the cable car to come to an abrupt and painful halt.

They all dangle in mid-air and she's not sure how long she can hold on for. The cable car is so heavy and she can feel her web breaking, thread-by-thread. She's not even holding onto Brittany anymore. She has no hands left with which to do so, and she hopes Brittany is strong enough to keep clinging onto her.

She can hear the children in the cable car screaming for her to save them, getting louder the more her web breaks and as she spots the Goblin circling the bridge on his glider she feels her heart plummet to the floor of her stomach because she really doesn't see a way out of this one.

"He's coming back!" Brittany cries and then clings even tighter around her neck.

"Ahoy up there!"

Santana turns her head to see where the voice came from and clocks a boat heading towards them. There's a man on the front of it with a loudspeaker who she guesses was the one who spoke and she feels a little spark of hope reignite inside her.

"We're going to bring the boat underneath you!" The man with the loudspeaker informs them.

She turns her head back to face Brittany. "Listen, you have to climb down!"

Brittany shakes her head. "I can't, Santana, I can't!"

"You have to!" she repeats more urgently as the Goblin draws closer. "You can do it, Britt. Trust me."

Brittany takes a deep breath and nods before slowly shimmying down Santana's body, still sobbing a little, until she reaches the cable.

"Go quickly!" Santana tells her as she begins edging down it towards the roof of the cable car.

Right then is when the Goblin chooses to fly in out of nowhere, his glider clattering violently into Santana's ribs. She loses her grip on the cable and she hears Brittany scream as she and the tram begin free-falling.

She fires another web that latches onto the same steel girder as the last and manages the capture the cable again just before it falls out of reach. The way it jerks as she catches it causes Brittany to lose her grip and fall and Santana feels her heart in her mouth as she watches her clatter onto the roof of the tram.

She thinks she's okay but she doesn't have time to check because she can hear the Goblin coming back around again, his cackling piercing through her skull as she lets the cable slide slowly through her grip, lowering the tram and Brittany towards the boat.

He's just about to clash with her again but out of nowhere something flies across in front of her face and hits him in the head, sending him veering off course.

She glances up to find the side of the bridge lined with people, all armed with bricks and heavy fruit and pieces of metal and they're pelting the Goblin with them.

She knows they won't beat him but it does distract him long enough for her to lower the cable car the rest of the way down until it, and Brittany, are safe on the boat.

The crowd cheer and she feels more relieved than she ever has in her whole life, but it's not long before Brittany is screaming up at her again.

She thinks she says _watch out_ but she doesn't get a chance to ask her to repeat herself because the Goblin is suddenly soaring past her and coiling some kind of rope around her waist before dragging her forcefully away from the bridge.

She's hanging off of the bottom of his glider and she struggles to break free of the rope as they fly over the river but she can't.

And then without warning she's being thrown violently through the window of an abandoned, stone building. She flies through the air, completely disoriented, and only comes to a halt after she's rolled across the floor and into a wall.

It knocks the wind out of her but she doesn't get time to catch her breath because as soon as she looks up, one of those yellow orbs that the Goblin used to blow up the balcony on Unity Day is right in front of her face and exploding before she can move.

She's blown right through the wall she's propped up against and into another and suddenly every bone, muscle and tendon in her body is sorer than she imagined possible. She can feel that half of her suit is now missing where the blast must have burned it off.

She manages to stagger to her feet just as the Goblin approaches her and it seems he's done exchanging pleasantries because the first thing he does is land a blow to her head.

It knocks her onto her back again and as she tries to climb to her feet his foot connects hard with her face and forces her back down.

She squints up at him. She can feel wet all over her face and she assumes it's blood. She doesn't think she's ever been in this much pain before in her life and she almost wants to give up but all she can think about is Brittany, and how if she lets him win there will be nobody to protect her.

He steps closer, slowly, looming over her face. "This is your fault, you know, Santana?" he growls. "If you'd played nicely your little girlfriend's death would've been quick and painless, but now that you've _really_pissed me off, I'm gonna finish her off nice and slow."

It's funny how the last thing in the world she wanted to hear was probably the exact thing she _needed_ to hear in that moment.

He places his foot over her head but just before he stomps down she manages to grab onto it and pushes with all her might, sending him flying into a chunk of broken wall opposite her, and then all it takes is one web from each wrist to make it come crashing down on top of him.

She watches for a moment as he struggles out of the rubble but she doesn't give him a chance to get the upper hand again. She fires a web at the exposed beams above her and swings into his chest with her feet, knocking him into another broken pile of bricks.

She clutches at his throat when she lands and begins beating him relentlessly, aiming mostly at his stomach because the green metal mask he wears would make hitting him in the head pointless.

Even when he goes lip and starts whimpering, she keeps on pounding, over and over. She knows she should stop but it's like she's possessed.

She lands one final blow to his head, even though it probably hurts her hand more than it hurts him, and he falls to the ground, sobbing.

She steps forward to finish him off but then-

"Santana," he whimpers. Something about the way he says her name makes her stop. "Please, it's me," he begs as he moves his hands to the base of his helmet.

He removes it and lets it fall to the floor and Santana swears she feels her heart stop for a moment. "M-Mr Evans?" she stutters.

_Sam's Dad? All this time it was Sam's Dad?_

"Y-You tried to kill all those people? Brittany and those _kids_," she asks, flabbergasted.

"No! It wasn't me, Santana. It was the Goblin! He just takes over. Please, don't let him take me again. _Please!_"

She's never felt so torn in her life. This man is her best friend's Dad. She's known him since she was in kindergarten and she wants to believe him more than anything but how can she?

He tried to kill Brittany.

"How could you hurt all those people?" she gasps, barely above a whisper.

"I told you, I didn't mean to," he says as he slowly staggers to his feet. "Please help me, Santana. I _swear_it wasn't me. You're like family to me and Sam. And families help each other. You'll help me, won't you?"

She gulps as he slowly reaches his hand out toward her. She stares at it for a moment and she's _so_close to taking it, she really is, but then she hears a familiar whirring sound behind her and she turns just as the Goblin's glider comes hurtling through the air towards her.

She throws herself to the ground on her belly just in time to avoid it and Mr Evans' scream is the only thing that her look up again.

She suddenly feels like she could throw up.

It hit him instead. He's wedged between the glider and the wall and his torso rests on top of it, his armed spread out almost like he's just lying on his stomach in bed.

She can see he's still breathing so she approaches him carefully and he winces up at her, suddenly with gentle eyes, and she wonders if maybe he really was telling the truth.

She almost _doesn't_want to believe it now; it would make this even worse, somehow.

"Don't tell Sam," he groans and then he goes perfectly still and she knows he's gone.

She stays with him for a long while before she moves him. She's not sure why, really. Maybe she's just putting off the inevitable.

She carries his body back to his mansion on the outskirts of the city and removes the rest of his Green Goblin costume before she takes him inside. She lays him on a couch in one of the many living rooms and wraps him in a blanket so that when he's found he won't be in his underwear.

She looks down at his face for a moment and wonders if he's _him_again now that he's dead. Dwight Evans or the Green Goblin?

She guesses she'll never really know.

"Dad?"

She whips her head round in shock when she hears Sam enter the room. She had no idea he would be here today. She's not even sure how much her costume is actually disguising her right now but she guesses it must be enough because Sam hasn't said her name yet.

She watches has he looks at his Dad, frozen in the doorway with tearful eyes and then back at her. His face hardens so suddenly, and she winces a little because she's not used to seeing Sam look that way.

"What did you do?" he growls.

She gulps and does the only thing she can - she turns and leaps from the window as Sam calls after her angrily.

/

Mr Evans' funeral is a much quieter affair than she imagined it would be - just family members and close friends.

She stays close to Sam all through the service and the burial, and Brittany, in turn, stays close to _her_. She feels guilty for even bringing Brittany since she's already made the decision to break up with her once this is all over, but she just couldn't bear to face the funeral without her.

She's not sure she can bear to face _anything_without her but if there's one thing she's learned over the last couple of weeks it's that as long as she's Spider-Woman, the people she loves will never be safe.

She has to do it for Brittany's sake.

She takes the opportunity to talk to Sam alone right after the burial while Brittany is off speaking with Aunt May.

She puts her hand on his shoulder and he immediately wraps his fingers around hers. "I'm so sorry, Sam," she tells him solemnly, "I know it's probably not much help right now, but I know what it's like to lose a Dad."

"I didn't lose him. He was stolen from me," he retorts bitterly as he turns to face her properly. "I'm gonna make Spider-Woman pay, Santana. I _swear_. One day she's gonna pay for this."

She swallows thickly as she watches his eyes cloud over and nods reluctantly at him, hoping upon hope that it's just grief that's making him say that.

He pulls her into a tight hug then and she hugs him back, equally firm. "You're the only family I have left now," he mumbles, and then he pulls away and begins heading back towards the procession of cars that brought them there.

She watches him walk away with a heavy heart until she feels a hand on her shoulder and turns to find Brittany smiling sadly at her. She decided not to tell Brittany the truth about Sam's Dad either. She doesn't want anybody else to have carry around the burden of knowing that.

Brittany hugs her, quickly but tightly. "I'm sorry," she whispers.

Santana's brow furrows. "What for?"

"All this," Brittany answers, "I know this must be hard on you, too."

Santana just shrugs in response. Maybe that's true but what she's going through right now isn't anything close to what Sam is going through and she's not about to pretend like it is.

Brittany closes her arms around Santana's neck and holds her so closely it makes her knees weak. "I just want you to know, whatever happens, I'm _always_gonna be here for you, okay?"

She leans into kiss her then and Santana can't help the way her eyes slam shut as their lips meet. Brittany's kisses just _do_something to her. "I love you," Brittany whispers against her lips before pulling away. When Santana looks at her again she sees that she's begun to cry and it makes tears sting at her own eyes, too. "I love you so much, Santana. I always have," she tells her.

Santana nods and gulps as her throat tightens. She's not sure what decided it - the way Brittany kissed her or the fact that she said those words. Maybe she never would have been strong enough to do it in the first place, but she realizes in that moment that she just _can't_be without Brittany.

It doesn't make any sense because she lived without her, pining after her, for such a long time before that it almost started to feel normal. But now that she's got her she can't let her go.

Maybe it's wrong and selfish but she guesses she'll just have to work extra hard to protect her. She can do that.

She's Spider-Woman.

"I love you, too," she says back, before taking Brittany's hand tightly in her own.

**The End**


End file.
